


Dr FeelGood

by bodegacowboy



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 02:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4287447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bodegacowboy/pseuds/bodegacowboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-699. (ignoring 700 and The Last) When Naruto hurts he comes to Sakura to heal his pain. But can Sakura do her job when it turns out love is the best medicine for both of them? Oneshot</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dr FeelGood

Naruto winced as Sakura gently probed his arm.

"So?" he muttered.

"Well, judging by your symptoms, which upon immediate inspection appear to be feverish conditions, pale skin, rapid breathing, and pain in your forearmarm. I would say it's something of a systemic inflammatory response-"

She stopped when she saw that his eyes were glazing over.

-Your body thinks the cells in your arm are some kind of infection." She continued.

Naruto frowned. "Why didn't Tsunade ever mention that this could happen?"

"Well actually she did. I was there when she told you there was a ten percent chance this very thing could happen."

Naruto ran his hand across his face. "Those few weeks after the war are kind of a blur to me."

"Well it was just one big party in your honor. "

Naruto cut his eyes from his arm to Sakura then back again. "So….?"

"Well you won't die if that's what you are worried about. Your body is too powerful to succumb to this. And the arm probably won't lose any functionality. At worse you can expect to come down with some flu-like symptoms every now and then. That is until your immunity gets used to the new cells."

"So that's the good news?"

She smiled. "that was the bad news. The good news is that you have a medical expert as your friend. Whenever you feel sick come and see me and I'll treat you. "

Naruto took a moment to reflect on this. "Alright I feel a little off right now, what happens next?"

Sakura gestured towards her couch. "Simple, take off your shirt and have a seat."

Confusion masked his face. "Really?"

She eyed her friend cooley. "Are you worried about me seeing you without a shirt on? Even after I've pumped blood through your body by squeezing your heart with my bare hand."

"I am not worried." Naruto looked over at the couch. "Worried is not the right word."

"Naruto" she sighed. "There's nothing to be insecure about I am sure you have beautiful breasts."

This forced a bark of a laugh from Naruto. He then caught her gaze for a moment before his hand slipped down to the waistline of his t-shirt.

It was an awkward fumbling walk to the couch for Naruto as he slipped his shirt over his head. Breathing heavily he tossed the shirt to the side and he plopped himself on the couch.

He drew in another sharp breath when Sakura stood over him and began to unravel the bandages on his arm .

"Thank you Naruto,"She said abruptly.

"For what?"

"I know you could have gone right to Tsunade for help. So thank you for trusting me."

Naruto said nothing as Sakura removed the last bit of his bandages. He stayed silent as Sakura molded her chakra into her hands and went about running her palms along his arm.

"So Sasuke has been writing?" He asked tentatively

She smiled without pulling her attention away up from his body.

"Yes, he has."

"Good." Naruto then sucked in a mouthful of air. "I think we should talk."

Sakura agreed, with Sasuke back in a rational state of mind they needed to talk for the sake of their friendship.

Really they could have just gone on as if nothing had ever happened. But that didn't seem right, that wasn't like them. Mistakes had been made, lies told. These things had to be resolved.

What would be said now would likely affect their relationship for the rest of their lives. So Sakura had to express herself eloquently, thoughtfully, kindly. She wanted to make things right.

It was as she was forming her thoughts into a cohesive and empathetic speech that Naruto dropped the bomb on her.

"I think I had feelings for you because I was competing with Sasuke."

Her initial reaction was that it was quite possibly the stupidest thing she'd ever heard.

But she was a professional, she kept her concentration on healing. Soon enough Naruto's body had regained its natural color and his heart rate had returned to normal. She wrapped his arm in fresh bandages and watched wordlessly as Naruto slipped his shirt back on. She sent him off in much better health than he had when he knocked on her door.

It was when he was gone, it was when she was sitting on her couch alone staring out into space, that she realized she was furious.

XXXXXX

The implications were obvious by the next morning. It was offensive really. She regretted not knocking his block off then and there. What he had said, what he had really been saying was that he had no reason to actually like her.

Such a statement was something completely different then him agreeing to move on, if moving on was what he needed to be happy she would have no problem encouraging him to move on. But if she took him at his word well there was never anything substantial to move on from. If Sasuke and Naruto had gotten along from the start would Naruto have never found anything appealing about her? Was that all that had attracted him to her? Spite for Sasuke? So everytime he had asked her out he was trying to use her against Sasuke?

Of course with her new budding relationship with Sasuke it didn't really matter whether or not Naruto found her attractive physically or otherwise. It was just that well, she had her pride did she not?

Indeed it was pride that prompted her the next day to bang against the door of Naruto's house. She was there seeking either clarification or a duel. It was really up to Naruto what happened next.

Turned out he wasn't home.

She would discover soon enough, from the Hokage of all people, that the world's savior had impulsively decided to visit Sunagakure.

"He left in a hurry" Kakashi said. "It was very odd."

xxxxxxxxx

It occurred to Sakura that Naruto had likely departed to escape her wrath which she had to admit was the right move. By the time Naruto had returned to the village Sakura had worked out her fury.

Though it had taken a few days. Her reputation was diminished a bit when her coworkers at the hospital walked into the bathroom to find her grinding her teeth in anger. And her finances were affected when she accidentally kicked a stone through the window of a bakery.

But eventually she had worked through her frustrations and after an intentionally vague discussion with Ino-

"Hey piggie you remember Akem from the Kirigakure corps well she wrote me a weird letter about a problem she was having."

-Sakura settled on the the fact that she was letting her ego get in the way of the potential solution to a serious problem.

She had read once as a child "where there is love there is life." As she grew older she added to the quote another simple truth. "Where there is life, there is suffering." She knew very well the heartache love could bring and she would not wish that upon Naruto. If he felt that he had not really loved her, if his romantic affection for her had been the product of childish resentment. Then she would accept this, because it would mean Naruto would be happy, no one would suffer.

So when Naruto knocked on her door a month or so after she last saw him, she greeted him with a smile.

"Do I know you?" She asked.

"I think we went to the academy together," Naruto answered.

"Oh now I remember." She smiled, "Welcome back."

"It's good to be back."

She led Naruto into her living room. "Let me guess, your arm is making you sick again?"

He nodded. "It's taking a lot for me not to throw up on your rug."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Naruto if you throw up on my rug I will kill you, then I'll resuscitate you, and then I'll kill you again."

He chuckled. "Is it right for me to be more frightened of my medic than my sickness?"

"Shut up and get on the couch" she teased.

In a matter of moments Sakura was picking through his bandages.

"So how was Suna?"

"It was hot."

"That remind me I've always wanted to ask Gaara how he keeps his hair looking so lustrous in all that humidity."

"You like Gaara's hair?"

"Trust me on this Naruto, Gaara's hair is tremendous."

"Oh." Naruto said as she scratched at his scalp.

Sakura noticed this. "Are you thinking about doing something with your hair?"

"No-I don't know-I was thinking about cutting it shorter."

Naruto looked her in the face and then his own fell with disappointment.

"Maybe I won't then."

"What? I didn't say anything!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Your face said something."

"It did not!"

"It did!"

"Naruto" Sakura sniffed. " I am sure anything you decide to do with your hair will turn out just fine."

"Really?" Naruto asked, his voice laced with skepticism.

"I also think, well it's just my opinion...but I think if you are going to do anything with your hair, you might be better suited with you hair a little longer-like your father's."

Delight sparkled in Naruto's eyes.

"It's just my opinion" Sakura repeated.

Naruto opened his mouth to reply but he stopped himself and simply sank further into the couch.

She waited but when it became apparent nothing further would be said she simply continued working in silence. No one spoke again until she was just about ready to end the operation.

"Sakura last time, I said something that you might have thought was-

"Offensive?" She interrupted.

"Yeah, I went over what I said after I left here and it...sounded wrong.'

As Sakura moved her hand across Naruto's torso she could feel him staring intently at her. Instinctively she wiped a hand across her face as if something was there, it could have been sweat or even a bit of food.

There was nothing there.

"Naruto I understood what you were trying to say."

"You did?" He said with relief in his voice. "I was worried you'd get mad."

"I didn't get mad," She lied. "Like I said I understood what you meant to say."

Sakura looked up just to see Naruto turn away as if the brightness of her would hurt his eyes.

She recalled immediately a snowy afternoon years ago when she had done something very hurtful to someone she cared about very deeply. She remembered Naruto's words, they rang in her ears, they formed on her lips.

"I don't know if it did but...I am sorry if what I said hurt you Sakura-chan."

Sakura kept the words to herself, because as she had said she could understand.

She finished healing him, replaced his bandages and warned him to come back as soon as he began to feel ill.

Naruto paused in her doorway and she knew he was considering her warning. Then he laughed like someone who had just picked up on a subtle joke.

"I guess with this I shouldn't stray too far away from you."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They don't hang out much anymore. Well more specifically they did not hang out together anymore.

"That sounds good, we should ask Ino to come along. You know who really likes that restaurant Chouji...We have to bring Shikamaru it will really annoy him...Sounds great Sakura-chan I'll go get Sai."

She enjoyed spending time with all her friends so this was not a tremendous problem. And she couldn't complain too much they still had time together when Naruto came to her for his treatments which had over the past year had become a monthly ritual.

"Let's play a game" Sakura said.

Naruto's attention was currently on Sakura's hands. He watched captivated as she rubbed a special herbal coating of her own making over his freshly bandaged arm.

"Naruto."

His eyes flickered up to her. "A game?"

"It's called 'Secrets. It's a game Ino and I play when we haven't seen each other for awhile. It's sort of a game that can only be played between really close friends."

There is a pause as the many implications of her words settled on both of them.

Naruto nodded his assent.

"It goes like this person A tells a secret about themselves that they don't think person B knows. If person B does know the secret then that's a strike against person A. If you get three strikes then you lose."

"Alright let's play."

"Good, you go first." Sakura said quickly

Naruto bit down on his lip and thought for a long time. "I have a small tattoo."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "I should have mentioned the point of the game of the game is to start off with little secrets and build your way up."

"Oh..."

"How, when?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"When I went to Suna I was hanging out with Gaara and he just hands me a drink that tasted like juice...The next thing I remember is waking up with a tattoo. I have no idea how it happened. I tried asking Gaara about it but he only smirks smugly at me."

Sakura innocently tapped a finger against her chin. "Can I see it?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Because it's embarrassing!"

Her eyes scanned up and down Naruto's bare upper body. There was one vital question that needed to be answered now above all others,

"Naruto, where...is it?" She asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

Naruto averted his gaze. His face was now as red as his mother's hair.

"I'm sitting on it."

Sakura laughed loudly. For a really long time.

"Alright, alright," Naruto said as he shifted uneasily on the couch. "I think it's your turn to tell a secret now!"

"Okay, okay..." Sakura said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Just give me a second."

"Take your time" Naruto grunted.

It took more than a few seconds for Sakura to regain her composure.

"Alright," she declared after catching her breath.

"When we were at the academy I cheated on an exam. It happened because I was having a really bad week. My body had not readily adjusted to some of the taijutsu exercises yet so when we had a week of taijutsu drilling I just well.. and I was still getting teased at that point so long story short I didn't have a lot of room for multiplication on my mind. When we got a math test at the end of the week I was not prepared at all and I had to cheat off a girl sitting in front of me. We got a C plus, worst grade I ever got."

She topped her story with a wistful sigh and looked to Naruto for his reaction.

"Sakura you knew that-" Naruto said with a tilt of his head. "-The teachers didn't really have a problem with cheating as long as you didn't get caught."

"Yes I did know that, and looking back on it for a first time cheater I did remarkably well. But still, back then I felt like I should have been better prepared, I let myself down."

Naruto reflected on this for a moment.

"You should be proud of yourself now you are a very important shinobi to the village."

A pleased smirk came to her face. "I can't lie, there is something a little satisfying about the village's greatest success story telling me I've come a long way"

"I've got something else to tell you" Naruto said.

"What?"

"My story was way way better."

"Hey, I'm just playing the game right! I'm going to have better and better secrets as we go along. We just started and you just gave away your best story!"

"Did I?" A mischievous gleam came to Naruto's eyes.

He held her gaze.

Sakura swallowed a mouthful of air. "I-I am done. You're healed, for now"

Right," Naruto looked past her at a clock on the wall. "It's late I should go."

"Sure."

He rose off the couch and swiftly slipped his shirt back on. Sakura stepped to the side as he made a beeline for the door.

"Hey Naruto," she called out after him.

He turned to her.

She paused. "I'll see you later then?"

Naruto nodded and headed for the door.

XXXXXXXX

It was a rare event but in the two years after the war Sakura did manage to see Sasuke when his travels allowed him to wander within reasonable distance to the village. It was a pretty straightforward affair she received a letter announcing Sasuke's location, she excused herself from the village, they met up and they well they dated.

From the outside looking in, their dates were fairly magical by most dating standards.

She had yet to have what anyone one consider a "bad date" while seeing Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke was always very charming. He was also surprisingly witty. She found herself smiling in delight whenever he chose to dazzle her with his cleverness.

Naruto in contrast was no match for Sasuke's clever tongue. Though if the truth be told Naruto did make her laugh, really, really hard sometimes, by just being himself.

Initially Sakura had done her best to avoid comparing them. She had concluded long ago where the difference truly lay.

She was very, very fond of Naruto but she had been passionate about Sasuke for a long time.

After all these years her passion had remained. And Sasuke reciprocated her passion.

Well at least he tried.

Sasuke tried hard, he tried very very hard to please her. The consequence of this was that there were times, there were numerous times where she felt as if he were auditioning.

He was auditioning for her even though she was already in love with him. Which while again seemingly romantic from an outside perspective was a bit disconcerting when she gave it some consideration.

She tried to explain the problem to him once. Or more specifically she tried to explain while not directly addressing the problem.

And to his credit Sasuke did listen intently to her as she explained while skirting the crux of the issue.

Though he listened as a cooperative actor listens to his director. It regrettably fell a bit short of the intimacy of lovers exchanging private thoughts.

For what it was worth Sasuke was for all intents and purposes perfect for the role. Rather than be disappointed Sakura resolved herself to do her best, she'd be perfect in her co starring role.

Unfortunately she had never felt perfect in the company of Uchiha Sasuke in the past and she wasn't sure how to start now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In between treatments Sakura found herself thinking about him in some form everyday.

"That idiot" she would chuckle to herself at work when she recalled some absurd statement he had made.

"That idiot" she smiled to herself at work when she recalled some accidentally adorable statement he had made.

However it was now very apparent to her that outside of her treatment Naruto was avoiding her. Well he was avoiding spending any more time alone with her than was absolutely necessary.

She knew why he was doing it, she understood his reasoning. Naruto needed to work things out. In time they would be fine.

It would be best to wait. Her fondness for Naruto would hardly diminish over time.

"Sakura-chan...you are looking at my butt aren't you?"

"I am not!"

Naruto dragged his shirt over his head and turned to her.

"You don't have the byakugan, my pants are not transparent, I don't know what you're expecting!"

"I wasn't expecting anything!"

He stared at her. "Sakura..."

"Naruto..." She countered.

"I'm not showing you the tattoo."

A spike of irritation flashed through Sakura. "Maybe it's not about the tattoo maybe you just have a nice butt have you ever considered that?!"

Naruto flung his shirt to the side. "Well you have a nice butt too but you don't catch me staring at it!"

"I don't?" Sakura challenged.

Naruto and Sakura gazed at each other as if one were seeing the other for the first time.

"I am just going to sit down," Naruto muttered.

"Yes, right," Sakura replied.

Establishing an aura of strict professionalism Sakura went about her work She changed his bandages gathered her chakra and once again started the healing process.

She was about halfway done when Naruto cleared his throat.

"So here we are we are two friends with great butts just hanging out."

Sakura acknowledged the remark with a playful roll of her eyes. It was an awkward attempt to break an awkward silence. The savior of the world was a bit of a dork.

"Naruto do you have plans for later?"

He stared up at her, "Later?"

"After this...Let's hang out, here, y'know, together. We could watch a movie or something or we could just talk."

"You want me to stay?" Naruto asked softly.

"Yes" she said without a moment's hesitation.

Sakura was right, her fondness for Naruto would not diminish over time but what she had not expected was that it would increase.

"That's if you don't have any plans" She added softly.

Naruto thought for a moment and she found herself holding her breath.

"Okay" he said eventually. "I'll stay.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura could only tune him out.

It wasn't that she had a low opinion of Hinata, the opposite was actually true.

Sakura was absolutely happy for him.

She was absolutely positively happy for him, for the both of them.

But when Naruto talked about their dating escapades she just found it hard to concentrate.

She was not proud of her somewhat insensitive and arguably hypercritical behavior but she simply could not bring herself to listen to him speak about his relationship. Which is why as Naruto spoke she focused on her work or how she could possibly get him to shut up.

She could hit him, she mused. knock him right through the roof. Though that seemed highly irrational especially in light of the fact that she had just finished healing him.

She could kiss him, a voice in her head said.

That would shock him into silence.

That would shock her into silence as well.

"Sakura-chan."

"Yes?"

"You are wrapping the bandages too tightly."

"Oh, I'm sorry," She flushed a deep red. "Let me just get the coating and you can go."

She made a move to turn away but Naruto gently caught her by the hand. "Is there a problem?"

"Naruto," she hesitated, "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Yeah."

"Do you love her? Really?"

After what seemed like a week of silence Naruto said. "I need her."

A moment passed, a second at most, where they studied each other's face. Then Sakura smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

"That's great!' She exclaimed.

"You think so?"

"Of course I do!"

She pulled back and held his face in both hands. She suddenly felt a startling sadness. She knew with certainty that one day Naruto's body would adapt to his arm. For aesthetic reasons his arm would always be bandaged. But Naruto would be able to bandage himself. With no further illness the treatments would stop, and if he had been avoiding her before, well needless to say a new whirlwind romance would certainly give him different priorities.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Sakura blinked away tears.

"I am so happy."

She leaned forward and placed her cheek against his. "Naruto we've both found love. Can you believe it?"

xxxxxxxxxx

It had not taken long for Sakura to get the feeling that Sasuke was guessing what she wanted to hear. More often than not he guessed correctly. He hinted at marriage occasionally, he talked of their future, he made it seem all mapped out, fated.

From the outside looking in, the relationship seemed to be progressing well, with or without her input.

Sasuke was a smart man, he paid attention to details, he'd learned her tendencies, he had deciphered her wants and desires. He was romancing her like he fought his battles, with clever tactics and supreme precision.

There wasn't any malice or deceit in his actions. He was just doing what he thought would make her happy. The true genius of Uchiha Sasuke was that he could have made her happy without really sharing himself with her. He could have made her happy once just by being at her side. He could have made her happy, but things had changed.

Sasuke's motivation was gratitude, not love. This saddened her but it wasn't as crushing as she would have once imagined. If there was anything to be really upset about, it was the typical, absolutely, comically awful timing of her life-changing revelations.

XXXXXXXXX

Sakura held on tightly as Naruto convulsed and a vile green liquid erupted from his mouth. Most of the liquid landed in the toilet, some of it landed on her.

"Okay get it out of your system" She said soothingly.

She held him from behind as he purged again until he began dry heaving. When his stomach had apparently emptied Sakura patted him softly on the back as she held him closer. They both dropped to the bathroom floor covered in sweat and vomit.

"Sorry about your rug" Naruto said breathlessly.

"It's okay I was thinking about buying a new one anyway."

He groaned. "No, I am going to buy you a new one. How much did It cost?"

She told him, Naruto sprang up stuck his head in the toilet and released the contents of his belly.

"That's crazy" He said when he sank back down to the ground.

"Good taste is an expensive virtue." Sakura countered.

Naruto started to laugh, but the act hurt too much for him to continue. He paused to collect himself.

"You know what she said?"

'Tell me what she said."

"She said once in awhile I should try and make myself happy instead of trying to make everyone else happy."

Sakura waited two breaths before replying. "Well you and Hinata are similar in this regard. Both of you can be very insightful."

"But what kind of person doesn't want everybody to be happy?" He asked.

"I think the point is that there are times where it might be okay to be selfish Naruto."

Sakura placed her forehead against his back. His body temperature was rising and she recalled how he had stumbled through her door with his eyes bright with fever. She'd been treating him for three years now and this was the worst he'd ever been. His condition she guessed had been aggravated by stress.

She patted him on the back once again. "Just lay back, I'll get you on your feet again. And then we'll figure out a way to get her back."

"You think I can get her back?"

"If you apologize sincerely yeah" Sakura answered. "That assumes of course, that getting her back is actually what you want."

Sakura was greeted by silence. .

"I don't think I'm a good person" Naruto said eventually.

"Naruto, that might be stupidest thing I've ever heard you say" Sakura scolded. "And I've known you for most of my life so I've heard you say a lot."

"It wasn't that stupid..."

She could hear the hurt in his voice.

"I'm sorry" she whispered. "Listen I am as familiar with self pity as I am with the human anatomy. Self-pity, it makes you do and say stupid things."

Naruto responded was a few ragged breaths.

She continued, "What I am saying is...You're beating yourself up for no reason."

He chuckled. "Well since I couldn't talk myself out of depression I thought I'd beat myself out of it. That's kind of how I solve my problems. It's worked really well for me so far."

And there it was, the warmth and optimism now lacing his voice was a world away from the tone dripping with angst that was with him a moment ago. Sakura smiled into his back, this sounded like the Naruto she knew.

"Still I don't think I was fair to Hinata" Naruto coughed.

"All's fair in love and war Naruto."

This seemingly meaningless and awkwardly delivered statement caused Sakura to cringe in embarrassment a nanosecond after it was out of her mouth.

If Naruto had heard it, he didn't show any signs that he did.

"The funny thing about all this is I was trying to make myself happy. Just like your treatments I needed her to get something out of my system."

Sakura listened to Naruto breathe for quite some time before she mustered the courage to ask her next question.

"Did you get it out of your system?"

He answered with a snore.

"Naruto?"

She peeked over his shoulder to confirm that he was asleep.

He was in a deep sleep.

With a heavy sigh she stood up and picked Naruto off the floor. She carried him off to her bedroom and set him down on her bed. She cleaned him off and then began to remove his bandages gently so not to disturb his sleep.

When Naruto's condition stabilized, Sakura tiptoed to her writing desk and started pouring into a letter everything she'd felt for the past two years. By the time Naruto awoke in the morning the letter was already on its way to a far off destination.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura was childishly delighted by his reaction. The candlelit living room threw him off a little but when he sniffed and discovered that the scented candles had filled the air with the fragrance of cinnamon spice, well that really knocked him off balance.

He had no idea what to expect when she handed him the letter.

He twirled the letter in his hand glancing at the front and the back before lifting his head towards the ceiling.

"Umm, it would be easier to read with the lights on"

"Oh" Sakura said as she realized she may have jumped the gun a little with the lights.

She rushed over to the light switch and the room immediately brightened.

Naruto stared at the letter.

Sakura called out to him from across the room. "That's a copy of a letter I sent to Sasuke four months ago and I got an answer back a few days ago."

Naruto offered her an uncertain glance before he sat down on the couch. Sakura watched on quietly as he read through the letter. She continued watching as he read through it a second time.

"This-What did he write back?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"He's actually more confused than heartbroken but he's given me his blessing."

"His blessing?" Naruto said his surprise bordering on shock.

Sakura licked her lips very slowly. She then walked towards the couch doing her best to try and sway with each step.

In her best attempt at a sultry voice she said, "He's given me his blessing to pursue my interests."

Naruto eyed her curiously as she made her way towards him.

"Now I can see from here that your breathing rate has increased and your eyes are losing focus. You might at this moment feel a little woozy and I bet your palms are getting sweaty. Maybe you feel a tightening in your chest. You might think you are getting sick again but the truth is I've secretly injected you with a slow acting aphrodisiac..."

She reached out touching him gently on his right cheek. No chakra strictly skin on skin. He quivered beneath her touch.

"So just let me know when it kicks in," She said throatily.

Naruto stood up, rising to his full height for and just a moment he seemingly towered over her. She saw the flicker of wariness in his eyes and she read between the lines.

Do not make light of my feelings Sakura-chan.

Cheeks reddened Sakura looked off for a moment then returned to meet his gaze.

"Okay then, let's play a game Naruto."

"Secrets?"

"Yeah, one hundred percent honesty. I am going to go first."

"Sure."

She took in a deep breath. "I've fallen in love with you Naruto."

"When?!" he exclaimed.

"Everytime you came to see me for the past two years. So that makes-"

She calculated quickly.

"-Twenty four times, believe it or not I've fallen for you twenty four times. And I am sure it will happen again tonight, tomorrow night, and the night after that, and the night after that for the foreseeable future."

Naruto stared open mouthed at her.

Sakura laughed to herself. "To be perfectly honest there were some moments when I was healing you that I was just fantasizing about biting my initials into your neck."

This knocked the air from Naruto's lungs harder than any blow he had ever received on the field of battle.

"Well that was two secrets actually" Sakura said with surprising serenity.

Naruto put a hand in the air. "Wait can-we-can we just go back for a second."

"But it's your turn," She told him.

He stared at her, "Is this a genjutsu?"

"No"

"But if this were a genjutsu you wouldn't tell me the truth."

"Naruto" she growled.

A grin spread on his face, "Well that sounded exactly like how Sakura would growl."

It was Naruto's turn to look away. "Okay one hundred percent honesty. I haven't felt any pain in my arm for three months. I've actually been pretending to be sick for the last two treatments."

He looked back to Sakura only to see her smile and shake her head. "That's not good enough, I already know that."

"But that..." Naruto frowned. Then his eyes widened "That actually makes perfect sense."

"I've just been clearing your skin for the past two treatments"

Naruto rubbed his hands across his now obviously smooth, supple, and blemish free face.

"Okay, that stuff about the rivalry with Sasuke. That wasn't true. I mean obviously we had a rivalry but...about my feelings for you I was lying about that."

Sakura drew in another deep breath. "That's strike two."

Naruto paused.

"I love you" he whispered.

Sakura smiled as she waved three fingers in the air. "Sorry Naruto but you los-"

As if a sudden thought had occurred to him Naruto reached out for Sakura and placed one hand gently on the back of her neck. Sakura closed her eyes as he pulled her close, she leaned in and their lips met. It was a soft and delicate meeting at first but the kiss was the unsealing of a lifetime of mostly unspoken promises. The heat of the kiss amplified their embrace to feverish levels until they were both breathless but still clinging to each other.

"Finally" Naruto gasped between breaths.

"I know" Sakura sighed her grin all encompassing. "It's about time I got to see that damn tattoo."

Naruto laughed into her hair. He held on to her tight and kissed her again. "I am not that easy Sakura-chan you'll have to buy me dinner first."

She laughed into his chest. "Does ramen count?"

"Of course it does. Of course it does."


End file.
